MAYFAIRTIMES.CO.UK 25
LITERARY FESTIVAL
DAVID DOWNTONDAVID DOWNTON
Monday October 28
The Fumoir at Claridge’s
FOR OUR FESTIVAL THIS YEAR, legendary
fashion illustrator and Claridge’s artist-in-
residence David Downton will be giving a
talk in the Fumoir at Claridge’s on “tales from
couture”.
It ties in with the launch of the new, limited
“art edition” of David’s book DD21,
representing two decades of drawing and
dreaming at the Paris haute couture shows.
“In July 1996, I was sent to Paris to cover
the couture shows by the art director of the
FT’s How To Spend It magazine,” he says of
his first foray into fashion.
“For someone who had no experience of the
fashion world, let alone its higher altitudes,
it was like entering Narnia. Since then, every
January and July I have recorded the passing
parade.”
He adds: “I witnessed the glorious arc of
Galliano at Dior, wept along with everyone
else at Christian Lacroix’s valedictory show
and delighted in the second f lowering of
Schiaparelli.
“For an artist there could be no richer
seam. The near impossible task of editing
this kaleidoscope of imagery into 100 or so
pages for this book evoked many memories. I
hope you enjoy them.”DD21 is published by Colebank Publishing
and costs £100. There are only 900 copies,
which are signed and numbered by David
Downton. The foreword has been written by
Erin O’Connor.